A lawyer for a bingo casino says a state agency improperly released the tax records of former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, shown above in a file photo. (The Birmingham News / Michelle Williams) A lawyer for the Greenetrack electronic bingo casino
says former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford's tax returns appear to
have been illegally released by the Ala­bama Department of Revenue.

Birmingham lawyer Gaile Pugh Gratton alleges the returns were released
without a court order or Lang­ford's consent. The returns were
sub­poenaed

in a lawsuit alleging Langford won numerous jack­pots at Greenetrack
as the result of rigged bingo ma­chines at the Eutaw
casino.
A similar lawsuit has been filed in Macon County al­leging Langford
won big bucks at rigged bingo machines at the VictoryLand ca­sino. In
all, lawyers for plaintiffs in both suits contend Lang­ford won $1.5
mil­lion over three years playing rigged ma­chines.

Langford and lawyers for both casinos have strongly denied the
allegation.

Langford's tax returns became part of the legal
record in Greene County after lawyers for plaintiffs in that case
subpoe­naed them from the Alabama Department of Revenue.

"It appears from the lim­ited investigation already
conducted that the produc­tion of the Langford tax re­turns was
accomplished in violation of the pertinent statute and regulations,"
Gratton charges in the latest court documents.

Gratton contends
Greene­track never received notice a subpoena had been served on the
revenue department seeking Langford's tax re­cords for 2006-2008. She
also alleges the department turned the records over to lawyers
representing plain­tiff Beverly Green with no evidence that the
depart­ment either had Langford's permission to release his tax records
or a court order to release them.

Gratton produced a letter
dated Feb. 22 from Richard H. Henninger, director of the Individual and
Cor­porate Tax Division with the Department of Revenue. The Henninger
letter was in response to an inquiry for Langford's tax records from
attorney John M. Bolton III, who represents VictoryLand owner Milton
McGregor.

In the letter, Henninger writes: "In your letter you
request a copy of the tax re­turns of Mr. Larry Langford which had been
subpoe­naed

by the plaintiffs in the above referenced action. The department does
not release tax returns without a court order signed by a judge. The
department has not received a subpoena or a court order requesting
copies of Mr. Langford's Al­abama income tax returns."

The
records were filed with the court four days later.

In her
filing, Gratton con­tends she has made numer­ous requests to the
revenue department for information on how Langford's tax re­turns were
released and has yet to receive clarification.

"The
department's refusal to respond to Greenetrack counsel's specific
requests after previously unequivo­cally stating that depart­ment
policy and the govern­ing law prohibit disclosure of tax returns
without an or­der signed by a judge raises the specter of
irregularities," Gratton writes.

Henninger would not comment on
Gratton's charges and referred ques­tions

to a department
spokeswoman.

That spokeswoman, Carla Snellgrove, said, "We
take very seriously taxpayer con­fidentiality." Snellgrove said she
could not comment on a specific taxpayer record. When pressed,
Snellgrove would say only that she be­lieved filings in Greene County
would show a sub­poena having been issued in the case.

She
said she was unaware of Henninger's letter.

Gratton declined to com­ment beyond what she has stated in her latest
court fil­ing.

Birmingham lawyer Mike M. Cowan, who is lead
at­torney representing plain­tiffs suing Greenetrack, said Gratton is
attempting to dis­credit the civil suit in an ef­fort by gambling
operators to run rigged games that pay them and corrupt poli­ticians

millions.

Says action clear

Cowan said there is no se­cret how he received Lang­ford's
tax records. Cowan said he issued a subpoena, which was filed in Greene
County and delivered by U.S. mail to the revenue department.

"We issued a subpoena just as they are issued every day," Cowan said.

As for Gratton's conten­tion that Greenetrack was never made aware of
the subpoena, Cowan said: "In a case like this, whenever somebody is
asleep at the wheel, what you hear is that 'we were never served,' "
Cowan said. "Well, they were served and Greene­track filed no objection
to our subpoena for Langford's tax records, Gaile Gratton didn't object
to our sub­poena. As to what the Department of Revenue is saying, well
that's a fight be­tween them and Greene­track."